


Touch of Gold

by Crucified_To_A_Star



Category: EXO (Band), SuperM
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Drabble, Gen, Greek Mythology AU, How Do I Tag, Inspired by Midas and the Golden Touch (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Kai as king midas, Other, i dont know wtf to tag this with lol, ill add tags later when i think of more lol, there isnt really a point to this but wow i liked writing it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-10-25 21:28:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20731028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crucified_To_A_Star/pseuds/Crucified_To_A_Star
Summary: Lonely is the life of sitting on a throne made of gold; heavy is the head that bears the weight of the burden of riches.





	Touch of Gold

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This was based off of Jongin’s teaser photos for SuperM; I made a tweet ( https://twitter.com/MidnightPasses/status/1174758554734956544?s=20 idk how to embed on ao3 lol) with the idea of Jongin as King Midas and, well, here it is. I crossed Greek and Christian legends for this so I hope it turned out good ;-; this style is kind of out of my norm? Oof idk but yeah I hope you enjoy it!

Gold was useless besides the value given to the metal by man. How many men had lied for such a pointless object? How many had stolen it? Cheated for it? Killed for it? King Kai often thought that if the metal had hands they would be covered in blood. Sometimes, though, the gold had hands. They were the hands of lovers that reached for him, hands of family that had embraced him, strangers who hadn’t known better. Some gold had hands and they weren’t covered in blood, however King Kai’s were.   
Originally, King Kai thought it to be a gift from the Gods. He had been such a powerful king, he had been revered. His kingdom was healthy and prosperous yet the greed of man was insatiable as ever. He hadn’t stopped with his abundant kingdom, had begged and pleaded for more- for more power, more people, more crops, more gold. He had loved his family and loved his kingdom, but man is never satisfied with enough. They always want more and King Kai was no exception. So when he had pleaded and begged for a way to get more, asked for a way to create wealth from nothing- it was granted.   
The Gods had gifted him the touch of gold. He had woken up the next morning, his sheets cold as ice and the sun reflecting off of the surface, bathing his room in the golden hue he had always dreamed of. Trial and error lead him into understanding that his fingertips now possessed the wealth of dreams: he was able to turn everything he touched into gold. He had ran to his queen the moment he discovered it, their hands touching for the briefest second before gold veined up her arm, solidifying her from the inside out. She was the first of many that King Kai watched turn to metal. It was then that he realized he was not gifted but cursed.  
Rumors spread quickly of King Kai and his golden touch, the rumors quickly dubbing him as the God Midas, King of Gold. King Kai never listened to the rumors, choosing to remain isolated instead. With the curse came another burden he had yet to think of; with such power there were always ones who would choose to abuse it. King Kai had a golden target painted on his back, kidnappers and mercenaries being sent to his gold castle many, many times to steal him away. Every motionless and metallic intruder lined the corridors of his palace, his only company in the neverending golden abyss.  
King Kai often found himself seated on his throne, staring into his courtyard. Outside there were only traces of his curse; there were a few trees, the occasional bench, and maybe a few bricks from where he’d fallen and caught himself. His throne room, however, was entirely gold. From the long carpet that lead to the entrance to the pillars that held the high arched ceiling to every vase and curtain- it was all gold. Anywhere he could physically touch had been tainted and turned to metal, cursed to live for eternity as he was.   
King Kai often wondered why his curse was similar to Cain’s. He had long since discovered he could not eat nor drink without the objects changing into the one thing he had begged to never see again. He had expected to die shortly after, the thought not as intimidating as he had once thought, only to realize he was doomed to immortality. He had been cursed like Cain to live with food and drink within his grasp, but never be able to taste it on his tongue again.  
He had found ways around his curse that made it so he could venture from his glistening palace, though he didn’t do so often. He would wear gloves of gold, learning that only his hands possessed the curse. Gold was a soft metal and he toned his body until the metal bent in his hands like dough. The times that he wore those gloves, he felt branded. His sins of greed opened and splayed for all to see, to stare at the king who wasn’t happy with enough and begged for more. He felt like everytime he wore them, he needed to beg for the forgiveness of the Gods he had angered. They had given him everything and yet he had still asked for more.   
King Kai knew there was a lesson in it, a moral he needed to learn in order to cure his curse, but he didn’t think he would ever do so. He sat and thought about it often, thought of the ways he could try and right his wrong. He gave to the poor, gave to those in need. He used his curse for whatever good he could manage. It did little but bring him a small amount of peace of mind, the curse still lacing his finger tips. King Kai was unsure if he could ever break the curse, ever figure out the missing puzzle piece.  
He was still unsure currently as he stood staring at his throne. The sunbeams were breaking through the windows behind his throne, the evening rays reflecting off of the dull surface, lighting the room in purples and pinks of the sunset. The air in his throne room was cold and stale, feeling as unforgiving as the metal he stood on. He supposed in that moment he was wrong, however, as gold was an incredibly forgiving metal. It was soft, malleable, and only shined when polished. Perhaps he needed to be more like gold, perhaps he needed to accept his fate and live in the mold he was cursed into.   
The clouds outside shifted, temporarily blocking the sunbeams and the phrase he had etched into the gold so many years ago, were now visible again.   
Lonely is the life of sitting on a throne made of gold; heavy is the head that bears the weight of the burden of riches.   
Yes, he thought, perhaps it was time to accept his fate. His footsteps were quiet in the throne room, but the sound of birds outside kept him company. When he sat on his throne, the cold seeping into his spine, he stared at his hand against the solid armrest. The color of gold against his tanned skin was pleasant and he wondered briefly if this had always been his intended fate. Mayhap, centuries ago, the fates had created his string and this was the path it would inevitably take, regardless of his actions; that he was always destined to be Midas, God of Gold. He wondered briefly what his string looked like: was it red like everyone else’s? Or had his cursed reached the fates and his string no longer wool, but metal, clogged in their spindles and that was the cause of his immortality? Perhaps Atropos couldn’t cut the thread with her scissors, the metal too strong, so instead she was sawing at it, his life extended unnaturally due to it. He wondered if the thread was red from the blood he had spilled and if the gold intertwined in it, his lifeline mirroring his life-story.   
King Kai hated thinking on it for too long, his eyes stinging from the color. He looked away quickly, staring at the gold lined throne room. How pointless gold was once the supply was endless. King Kai slouched backwards, fingers rubbing the bridge of his nose. How pointless gold was if he found no happiness. He hadn’t thought it prior to his curse, but now he understood; there was no value in unlimited wealth if it came at the cost of everything else he held dear. Still, King Kai would sit on his throne of gold, cursed to be the God of Gold, isolated in the chilly emptiness of infinite wealth.

**Author's Note:**

> Oof I didn’t know how to end this, but I hope you enjoyed this drabble! It was fun to write! It’s unedited and unbeta’d so idk how it turned out lol but yeah I hope you enjoyed it!


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